My Life In Konoha, and Akatsuki, and
by DanaBlood
Summary: Dana is a vampire, Itachi a human. She is an ANBU Hunter-nin, he A S-ranked criminal. She works for Konoha, he for Akatsuki. They both need to find love or maybe love will find them.Vamp fic. ItachixOC Rating for Hidan's mouth. OC-centric On Hiatus
1. Prologue

_**Chapter 1: Prologue**_

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><p><span>As I promised the first revised chapter. Enjoy!<span>

I don't own anything except my Oc's

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><p><em>And I, I will remember how to fly<br>Unlock the heavens in my mind  
>Follow my love back<br>Through the same secret door_

_Evanescence "Secret Door"_

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><p>A long time ago a great rift separated the two worlds, but as time passed, it began diminishing until only a thread's width remained. They did not know about one another at first, but soon the one called Earth began sensing the other and, as Earth was already crowded by both magical and normal people, this new world was an opportunity to the magical society. The humans agreed. Decades pass and the humans forget about ever existing magic on their world, nor do they remember the other planet that was so close yet so far away. Time made them forget, but it did not make the magical ones do too, no, they remained hidden in both worlds until all that remained were myths that turned to stories...<p>

Then there was a queen — a very beautiful queen. Her name was Victoria, and she led the empire of the most dangerous creatures: the vampires. Before her, the mighty civilisation hunted humans and enslaved them, but when the new queen arrived and took the throne, everything changed. The humans, seeing as their "masters" were losing their capacities to overcome Victoria, decided to gather their strength and fight back. The blood-suckers, seeing as the humans rebelled, chose to hide underground rather than fight back, should their number decrease from the constant inner-fights. They still consumed blood — it was their only way of surviving — but due to Victoria's beliefs they only drank what they needed, the victims' memories had to be erased after the feeding. The Middle Ages began with the demise of the vampires. For so long, art and science had prospered — and for what? For "stupid mortals" to destroy it all. All the hard work over the centuries from both races had been in vain. All that which vampires had created was soon forgotten or erased completely. The original queen soon died for another to take over.

While this happened on Earth, the other world, the Ninja World, was facing similar struggles. While the Countries were being formed, one of them suffered from the curse of pride. Two clan fought over supremacy, the Senju and the Uchiha, two of the most important clans of the world were disagreeing on who should be the leader of their common village. Both clans were tired of the constant fights that took place between them and decide to make Hashirama, the leader of the Senju, Hokage. Konoha was in for very rough few years. Madara, the Uchiha leader, could not stand to be tossed aside so a fight issued. The Valley of the End was the place where he met his doom by the hand of his worst enemy, the First Hokage, Hashirama himself. Everything after that seemed peaceful, but appearances can be deceiving, the seed of revenge was planted and it could only grow in the Uchihas' hearts.

Many years have passed since. Four vampire queens have died, but the current one could have overcome them all. The small distance between the two worlds combined with the constant magical creatures traveling back and forth from one world to the other created bridges (or portals) to appear.

Mina Blood, granddaughter of the fourth queen, Jaclyn Blood who left the throne two years ago, is the first choice of the Blood Clan. The only problem was that she preferred her life as a shinobi. "I may be one of the vamps," she like to say, "but I am also a shinobi of that village, and I will remain loyal to it." She often wished that she could just forget all that alluded to vampires; she wanted her own house with her own children and a husband, but that was impossible. Mina was the queen of vampires. Her grandmother let her take the job as a shinobi with the promise of continuing the ancient tradition of their clan. So Mina had no alternative but to take an apprentice — a young female vampire by the name of Dana. Ironically, the girl could've been Mina's daughter or sister; she had the same emerald eyes and charcoal hair. However the young childe(young vampire) had lost her memories and thus reverted back to a child-like body, a four year olds' to be specific, an ability not so uncommon among blood suckers. Both of them left for Konoha immediately. By the next morning, they were already in the village, meeting the Third Hokage. Dana was then enrolled in the Ninja Academy, while Mina, deciding that her time was better spent teaching young children, became a Jounin instructor.

Four years later, Dana — now eight years old — graduated from the academy along with fellow classmates Itachi Uchiha, Midori Haruno (Sakura's older sister), Shisui Uchiha, Hikari Namida, and Yoshi Fuuma (Tenten's older brother). Dana remained unaware of how much she meant to the vampire society or of who she was, despite knowing about having been a vampire. The two teams soon met their sensei.

Team Four consisted of Itachi Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, and Dana Yoshiko — led by Mina Blood. Team Thirteen was Midori Haruno, Hikari Namida, and Yoshi Fuuma — led by Yukio Hyuga.

They faced many dangers together, and shared happy moments as well as sad ones. Shisui and Itachi always fought over anything and everything, but despite that, the worst fights had been between Dana and Itachi. That's how Itachi found himself stuck with the nickname Itachi no Baka — meaning Itachi the Idiot — while Dana only got Smartass and/or Shorty. Midori, Dana and Hikari were almost inseparable and always gossiped, Yoshi and Shisui were also good friends and thus, Itachi began befriending Yoshi as well.

However this happiness were shortly lasted. As months passed, then years, Itachi and Dana were finally thirteen. That is when tragedy struck . Itachi left the village due to his crimes and soon after Mina left as well. With Shisui being dead and Hikari and Yoshi away, poor Dana was left alone, sad and weak. Midori became her only salvation from the total seclusion she was in. She trained — trained until she surpassed even the three Sennin themselves, who knew she would love this aspect of being a vampire, the speed of learning. Mina, being the queen, now couldn't visit as often as she might've wanted, but when she was indeed there, she was either training Dana or testing her. Dana didn't mind the attention in the slightest, but she still missed her teammates — and maybe, only maybe, liked Itachi a little more than just a brother, she just didn't want to admit it.

Now Dana is twenty-two, while Team Seven is 17. She grew so much since she was a thirteen-year-old kid — so useless and weak that she couldn't stop her teammates from killing each other. Though nine years had passed, she'd had so many S-Ranked missions that she couldn't count, becoming a very good interrogator and kunoichi while doing it, she'd lost her emotions. But somewhere deep down she still hoped that these nine years had never happened — that this was all just a dream, a nightmare, but she knew better. It was real, and yet she couldn't bring herself to hate him.

He who she had found she loved, he who had broken her heart only to rebuild it again, he who had been brought back, he who was her new assignment, but still loved despite all of it.

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><p><span>Nami(+da to sound good)=Wave<span>

Yukio=gets what she/he wants

Yoshiko=good child

Hikari=light

Midori=green

Yoshi=quiet

danna=master

Daniela (Dana's full name )=God is my judge


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1: The mission**_

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><p><span>Second chapter revised , hope it's better now.<span>

Don't own Naruto ...or Sakura or Sasuke or ... oh you get it.

_We're leaving here tonight  
>There's no need to tell anyone<br>They'd only hold us down  
>So by the morning light<br>We'll be half way to anywhere  
>Where love is more than just your name <em>

_**Evanescence- Anywhere**_

_Konoha, Hidden Village in the Leaf  
>6 years ago, November 3rd, Sunday (Dana is 15)<br>Hokage's Tower_

"Sarutobi-sama, you called?"

"Yes, come in, Dana. Take a seat."

Dana walked into the room, already in her ANBU gear, ready for whatever her leader ordered her to do. Or, at least, that's what she thought. She stood in front of him, long black hair loose, emerald eyes sparkling in anticipation. It had been too long a wait.

"Dana," the Hokage began, "if you accept this mission, you might have to do some horrible things and will be away from Konoha a long period of time."

She restrained a frown, her weight shifting to the other foot—she'd chosen to stand. "What rank is the mission, Hokage-sama?"

"S-ranked. That is why I must ask you to take your time in deciding upon  
>whether to take it or not. It might also open some emotional scars, so choose<br>carefully."

"I will," she answered, though a little unsure herself after what she'd heard so far. Her hands clenched and unclenched, an annoying habit she'd discovered that appeared whenever she was deep in thought

"Then, I expect your decision by the end of the day."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Am I dismissed?"

"Yes, you may go."

Leaving through the door, Dana started walking toward her house. She arrived not five minutes later, dropped her bag, and turned on the TV. She didn't pay much attention to it, however, as the Hokage's words echoed in her head.  
><em>It might also open some emotional scars. <em>

"What the hell is he talking about?" she asked herself. "Emotional scars?  
>Lovely! And what am I going to do?" Head bowing forward so it rests on her small coffee table she decided to go over everything she knows so far, then come up with an answer.<p>

"What do we know? What do we know?"a small frown settles on her young face "Well, for starters, the mission is S-ranked. That means it's dangerous and extremely important. Then, I think he said something about doing horrible things. That usually means that I have to go undercover, but what's with the emotional scars reopening? What emotional scars?" She sighs. "Oh well. We'll just have to wait and see... Damn, I hate waiting!" After her deduction, our little vampire decides to find herself a snack. She opens the fridge and takes out a bottle of red liquid and some tomatoes. Taking a sip of her "juice", she licks her lips.

_I almost forgot how good blood tastes_, she thought to herself. The rest of the day was spent practicing medical jutsu and upgrading her powers.

All vampires had powers, but each one had at least one _special_ power. Hers was a doujutsu technique, as the Hokage told her — an eye technique similar to the Sharingan or Byakugan. Using this, she could see the Keirakukei (Chakra  
>Network) like the Byakugan, but it was mostly used to copy another's<br>techniques. However, unlike the normal Sharingan, hers could copy even a Kekkei  
>Genkai.<p>

The backyard was small, but it was more than enough for the training she had in mind, you don't need a large space to heal people after all. Sitting in a meditating position she began by allowing the chakra to flow naturally through her, being a vampire had it's perks sometimes, like now, since she could literally sense her flow of chakra as well as blood. Hours went by fast and it was already 5 pm when she decides to take a shower and dinner. Dana then left a note on the coffee table for her house mate and best friend, Midori Haruno, stating that she's leaving tonight , or better said early tomorrow morning, and that she will be away for a few years at least, but that she shouldn't worry because she'll be fine, just another undercover mission. How she was!

Finally, the time for her decision came. She made her way through the night at full speed, her glowing red eyes the only visible things in the shallow hours  
>of darkness. Arriving at the mansion, Dana knocked on the big wooden double<br>doors.

"Come in," an unfamiliar voice said. She slowly walked inside, discovering the person to be a butler. He led the way to the study where Sarutobi sat, finishing some of the paperwork he had yet to complete during the day.

Dana was the first to speak. "Hokage-sama, I have reached my decision."

"And what would that be, my darling Dana?" the Third asked in return, lifting his head to look at her, a small smile on his aging face.

"I will accept the mission, only if you promise to take care of little Sasuke  
>for me," Dana replied, clenching her long canines as a flashback made her relive one day in particular. Her expression was one of unfathomable anger, hidden by her cat mask, as if she was ready to tear her leader's head off if he hesitated even a second regarding his verdict, he was the one who stopped her repeatedly from adopting the child after all.<p>

"Fine. I will make sure the child is taken care of, but I can't promise that  
>he will be happy. I don't think he'll ever be happy again." the last sentence he murmurs to himself.<p>

Instant relief struck her and she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "Thank you, lord Hokage. Now, back to my mission — What is it, exactly, that I have to do?"

"The mission is of great importance. You are to infiltrate the criminal  
>organization known as Akatsuki."<p>

"Akatsuki, dawn? I've heard of it, but what are they after?" she asked,  
>confused.<p>

"They're after the bijuu, the tailed demons," Sarutobi explained.

"Tailed beasts, huh? Like the one in Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun is indeed the vessel of the Kyuubi — the nine-tailed fox.  
>The Akatsuki wishes to obtain all nine demons by extracting them from their<br>human vessels. However they seem to be laying low for the moment, they haven't extracted one demon so far." he explains.

"But then the person will die due to the fact that the creature's chakra is  
>directly connected to their own. " She frowned. Naruto, of all people, didn't deserve to die because of something put in him by the Fourth Hokage. The poor kid had been unlucky enough to be born at that particular time when the fox attacked, not to mention how the villagers treated him now.<p>

"Yes, Dana; the vessel will die during the procedure, it has happened before, in Suna. Your mission is to become a member of the Akatsuki, gain their trust and report any movement whatsoever. For you to be able to do that, you have to become a missing-nin. I prepared this scroll containing secretes regarding the Byakugan's weaknesses; you will pretend to have wanted to steal it, but I  
>stopped you. Anything unclear?"<p>

"No, sir." Dana replied, sliding on her ANBU mask, mask she had taken off after the reassurance for Sasuke's safety, ready for the moment the alarm would sound and she would have to leave her home.

"Good. I'll hear from you soon. Good luck and farewell, ANBU Captain Dana  
>Yoshiko."<p>

That being said, the Hokage sounded the alarm and Dana ran from the mansion, heading toward the village's exit. She made sure to cover her tracks. Stopping a couple of miles away from her now former home, she checked to see if anyone was following her. The rain had began pouring sometime during the escape.

Standing there in her ANBU gear, soaking wet, away from her home and friends, the information finally sank in. She was now a missing-nin to be added in the Bingo Book.

She looked back one more time to the place she had called home all this time and continued her journey to who-knows-where without even the knowledge of how the Akatsuki would contact her. She had a feeling it wouldn't be too long. Transforming back into human, she stormed off. Careful not to leave any traces behind.

_Do you remember me?  
>Lost for so long<br>Will you be on the other side  
>Or will you forget me?<br>I'm dying, praying, bleeding and screaming  
>Am I too lost to be saved?<br>Am I too lost?_

_My God my tourniquet  
>Return to me salvation<br>My God my tourniquet  
>Return to me salvation<em>

_ **Evanescence - Tourniquet **_

Chirping of birds and the smell of the sea were the only clue that she needed. She'd gotten in Tea Country. Saying hello to the gate keeper, Dana made her way through the crowd. The old lady waving behind caused Dana to think back to home, on how Izumo and Kotetsu would always greet her and her team after a long mission. They had always been the first sign that she was home.

Pushing the hair back, Dana took off her headband, knowing that she shouldn't be discovered so soon. The mask came next, just as she entered a tea-house somewhere in the back of the village. Then she waited...

Meanwhile, two Akatsuki members were headed towards Fire Country — and this particular time, it wasn't for the Kyuubi no Yoko. Their leader had sent them to retrieve yet another new member.

_"You are to find and invite this person into the organization. If, due to any reasons, she does not comply, kill her. She's far too powerful to be left alive. She has long black hair, is in the ANBU Black Ops, around fifteen years old and is very skilled in healing. Now go!."_

Arriving in Konoha, the two decided to split up thus covering more ground. Several hours later, worn out and annoyed, they met up again. Just before exiting the village, they decide to spread out to other villages close by. However, they hear some shinobi talking, from their conversation it was clear that it was about their target.

"Yes, so have I. Such a sweet girl she was."one of them exclaims, around his mid-forties by the sound of his voice.

"She was. Latest rumor has it she's heading towards Tea Country..." said the second person.

"But if she's going full speed, she could already be on the next continent." another intervened.

"Doubt it; I think she stayed close cuz of…" Whatever the man wanted to say will remain unknown, because the Akatsuki were already heading to Tea.

Arriving in the same village,by accident because the Akatsuki don't believe in fate, the team was greeted by the gatekeeper.

"Hello. Are you looking for something?" asked the rather elderly woman.

"Someone rather than something," one of them replied. "We think she's in this village. She has long black hair and a Konoha ANBU uniform. Have you seen her?"

"Yes; last night — or this morning. Depends how you take it. A young girl by that description came into the village."

"Do you know if she left?" he inquires .

"No, sorry. If she did, she must've left during the afternoon shift, because I haven't seen her again."

"Thank you, anyhow," he said and motioned for his partner to follow. "Good day."

Feeling the telltale signs of fatigue, the two Akatsuki members take a detour to a tea house. The moment they stepped in, they feel some sort of chakra, but it was too low to determine who it belongs to, the place was crowded as was to be expected.

They headed towards the table in front of Dana, the only one empty it seemed, slowly taking hold of her kunai, she prepared for the fight that was sure to come. A couple of steps and they would've sit down had they not become aware of her presence. Taking their own weapons, they order her to get up. She immediately adopts a defensive stance, identifying them as Itachi Uchiha, whom she had had as a teammate, and Hoshigaki Kisame, one of the seven swordsmen of Kirigakure no Sato. The manager spots them in only a few seconds.

"If you want to fight, do it outside! I won't have you ruining my business!"

Dana, not wanting to cause a scene, walked right past her enemies — heading outside. Said enemies followed. Reaching the backyard,a large one at that, Kisame attacked. Dana, having already activated her ocular power, dodged. It had four different forms: red, used to see the Keirakukei( Chakra network); red with black design, used for seeing a person's next moves; black with red design, used for copying a technique; and completely black, designed for mental torture. Each of these forms had a name, if only she could remember it that is. It would make things much easier!

After some time, Kisame decided to catch her rather than injure her, his orders were to persuade her to join which she couldn't do if he maimed her now, could she? He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled, momentarily immobilizing her. Itachi took advantage of this to make his move. He launched forward, but Dana sensed him and took out another kunai. At the last moment, she cut her hair, throwing off his attack. Itachi missed her neck and cut her mask instead, she knew there was a reason why she put it back on. Surprised, she disengaged her power, her mask falling off turning her head to look at him. Then she rotated, kunai in hand, weapons clashing together. He recognized her and their eyes met, emerald to crimson, clashing like their weapons.

_Flashback_

_Team four was relaxing on the shore of a small river when, suddenly, Dana was pushed accidentally into the water, Shisui should really watch where he's going. The current was far too strong and she couldn't get out, her small hands moving, fanatically trying to grab onto something to pull herself back up. She screamed. _

_Mina, their sensei, instructed Shisui to make three Bushin and create a human ladder. She then grabbed Itachi's ankles and Shisui lowered them down, intending for the younger male to catch Dana. When they finally got her on dry land, Itachi was holding her bridal-style._

_"You should be more careful, idiot," he said harshly. "You could've been killed ."_

_"Oh, so you do care for me, huh?" asked nine year old Dana before losing consciousness, unaware of the blush on her teammate's face. Wet, the children make their way towards the Uchiha District, a hot cup of cocoa made by Itachi's mom sounded great right about now, not even Shisui could deny that!  
><em>  
><em>End flashback<em>

Dana and Itachi were still fighting, but the girl's fatigue was rapidly catching up to her, decreasing her speed and strength since she couldn't yet reveal the vampire part of herself.

"Come on, Itachi," she said maliciously, trying to make him lose focus. "I thought you were stronger."

"But I am," he replied, smirking, not at all fazed by her comment. "I can already see you weakening by the second."

_ Flashback_

_Ten-year-old Dana and Itachi were again fighting over some pointless thing, this time it was about ramen._

_"I'm telling you ramen is not good for long-term health. You can't live off of ramen," said Dana, matter-of-factly._

_"Then tell me, you smartass, how can I do it ?" replied Itachi sarcastically._

_"You're some kind of alien for all I know, you baka," she retorted._

_"How am I a baka? I was top of the Academy."he replied smirking._

_"Maybe your dad bribed the teachers?"she argued, Shisui was slowly nodding in the background, Mina was trying to hide her ever present grin. _

_"Hn. Shut up, idiot ," he said, already annoyed._

_"Hey!" Dana yelled, chasing the young Uchiha. "Stop running away, Itachi no Baka! Nobody tells me to shut up!"_

_After finally stopping and letting their teammates catch up, Itachi had a tiny smile on his face. He was sure that his new nickname would remain... His thoughts were cut short, however, by a female's voice._

_"Hey, Itachi no Baka — move it if you don't wanna be left behind again!"_

_His smile expanded._

_**As I thought. It will remain my nickname. Annoying girl,**_ _he ran to his team._

_ End flashback_

Itachi was on top of Dana, holding her hand behind her back, immobilizing her. He bent down to her ear and whispered "Dana, our Leader has invited you to join our organization. If you wish to do so, come to the western exit tonight at midnight. We'll wait there." And with that, they left. Dana returned to the tea house, paid for her tea, and asked the owner if there was an inn nearby.

"Well, you can stay here, but for how long?" he asked the battered (former) ANBU Captain.

"Only for a few hours," she said. "I'll leave tonight at eleven. And thank you."

Receiving a key she went upstairs to her room. _How ironic; it's room __number 4._ she thought, then entered. The room was small, but not overly so and had an adjourned bathroom as well as a nice comfortable bed.

Taking her ANBU vest off as well as her weapons, she grabbed a red blouse and some dark-colored pants and went to take a shower. After that, she took a clean kunai and arranged her hair so it would look presentable. She threw herself on the bed, trying to comprehend what was happening. Turning to her side, she saw the old photo of Team Four sticking out of the backpack which had been previously thrown on the bed. Mina-sensei was smiling, Shisui had a very annoyed look, to which Dana laughed. Then, her eyes landed on her and Itachi. Her hands were around his neck in a vice-like grip, trying to strangle him, while he was pulling at her hair with one hand while the other was prying her hands off of his neck. She remembered that day as if it was yesterday.

_ Flashback_

_Mina was standing in front of her team with a smile; she always seemed to smile for one reason or another, her Jounin vest accentuating her curves more then usual, her shoulder-length black hair was tied in a knot thus giving her a mature look._

_"Now, kids — I have called you here on our day off 'cause we have to take our team photo, as I mentioned the other day" she said waiting for the outburst that was sure to come._

_"Yahoo! Photos, photos, we're taking photos!" chanted Shisui and Dana._

_"State the obvious, why don't you?" Itachi said, ruffling Dana's hair ._

_"U-chi-ha I-ta-chiiiiiiiiiiii! I'm gonna murder you! Do you have any idea how long it took to arrange my hair? ! Huh? ! Well, it took five fucking hours!" yelled the angered ten-year-old. They needed these photos for the upcoming Chunin exam._

_"Language, Dana." he chastised , though the flicker in his eyes showed amusement._

_After doing her hair again, but not before chasing the young Uchiha around for a while, they finally got to the photographer — Mina in the back, Shisui on the right, Itachi on the left, and Dana in between the boys. All of them were smiling softly, Dana was almost beaming! Then Itachi ruffled her hair. In that moment ll hell broke loose, Shisui snapped when Dana started strangling Itachi, his younger cousin pulling her hair and hands in self-defense, he started yelling for them to stop it, but of course no one listened._

_"You two, look here!" yelled the photographer._

_That moment said two turned with glares, the man was so scared that he accidentally pushed the button and taking the photo because of it. A hour later, they were looking at the it when Itachi turned and said to the girl, smirking: "Look at the bright side — you can't see how messy your hair is because your face is uglier."_

_"Why you… GET BACK HERE!" She ran after him._

_"There they go again," said Mina, laughing, Shisui just shook his head, knowing by now to not stand in their way, they fought more than a married couple... _Maybe I shoud use this to my advantage _he thought, yelling he says "You two fight like an elderly couple, I swear you do!"_

_Big mistake Shisui, big mistake! Cause in the next moment the ganged up on him and the chase issued again... _

_ End flashback_

Dana was asleep, smiling at the happy memory when a tear made its way through her black eyelashes and slid down her cheek. The itching sensation of that one droplet woke her up and she immediately wiped the trail of black mascara. Looking at the clock on the opposite wall she panicked. She was late! Dana took her bag, and put her belongings in it before proceeding towards the exit. Downstairs, she paid the owner what she owed and left the tea house, changing into her vampire form the fifteen year old ran full speed towards the meeting point. She had wasted enough time getting her things, so she couldn't afford to lose any more. Reaching her destination, she was greeted by Kisame and Itachi. The first to speak was her.

"So, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Dana — well, actually, Daniela — Yoshiko. I like many things and..." Itachi grunted thus gaining her attention "…and I think we should get going, right?" she quickly ended the rambling.

"Hn. Kisame, I'll go ahead and report to Leader-sama " Before Kisame or even Dana could say anything, he took off, leaving the two alone. They spent the night in Fire Country, in Tanzaku Gai. By the morning, they were already heading towards Amegakure, the Hidden Village in Rain, where the main Akatsuki base was situated, all the while Dana was thinking how was she going to survive this mission when she didn't even know if she wanted to kill or hug the Uchiha-bastard! _Life sucks! _She sighs and follows Kisame through the night.


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto._

_**Chapter 2: Rain**_

_Please, please forgive me,  
>But I won't be home again.<br>I know what you do to yourself,  
>I breathe deep and cry out,<br>Isn't something missing?  
>Isn't someone missing me?<em>

_ **Evanescence - Missing** _

Unable to go full speed the trip for Dana seemed infinite .If she could have stated her identity, it would have taken less time so instead of half a day, it took 2 days. Even longer than it was to get to Tea Country! She was tired and frustrated, hungry and thirsty and anything in between. But finally they were there. Itachi and Kisame went inside first. She followed going into the main meeting room where the leader was waiting .

"Welcome back Itachi, Kisame. I do hope your trip to Fire Country was relaxing." said the man sitting at one end of the large table. In a distant corner another person could be seen. Who, Dana did not know. "You are dismissed. I wish to talk to her alone ." the man then added .

Upon leaving the room Itachi thought to himself that Dana wouldn't last in the organization a day. Oh, how wrong he was!

"Dana Yoshiko , am I correct ?" asked the man once the other 2 members left.

"Yes. I would like to know why exactly am I here and may I take a seat? My knee is killing me!" she complained.

"Fair enough, do as you wish .My name is Pein, I am the leader of Akatsuki , as you have probably deduced by now." the man, Pein, explained.

He had medium length, spiky orange hair and gray-purple-ish eyes. The Rinnegan, Dana acknowledged. He was quite handsome in fact, but something about him seemed distant and cold .So sad, even a little abandoned. She took a look in his memories.

There she found the Second Great Shinobi War, where his parents were murdered by two Konoha shinobi, but something else was bothering her, the child's name,in the memory, was Nagato and he looked so different from Pein so she searched deeper .

Memories about two other children came to her. A young girl with short blue hair and amber eyes and a young boy who looked like the Leader, save the Rinnegan. Instead he had brown eyes. His name was Yahiko. The Ame Orphans the three were called. The death of Yahiko unleashed the Six Paths of Pain where Yahiko's body was incorporated as the Deva Path. Dana suddenly pulled back, a headache slowly beginning. One thing left her puzzled though, she couldn't find the girl's name which normally meant she was important. Who was she? Dana frowned. Her eyes return to normal and she realizes she was in tears, Pein however seemed unimpressed.

"Do not do that again." he said emotionlessly. "What are you ?" he continued.

"I'm a vampire and before you say anything, no, I don't require much blood, nor do I need to drink very often. I have a few interesting characteristics though." Dana replied.

"I see… what is it?"

"Oh!Ah ... who is that woman over there?" Dana answered/asked, pointing to the opposite wall .

"So you sensed me. Very well. Not many can." responded the mysterious woman, whom Dana recognized as Nagato's old childhood friend .

"You're her, the woman I've seen in Pein's memories ! What's your name?" said Dana suddenly very happy, a smile forming on her face.

"My name is Konan... Anyway how often do you need blood and how much?" she asks, not sure what to say to the hyper teen, Pein, himself, wanting to hear Dana's answer .

"Well once in two months and only half a liter .Why?" Dana is confused while asking this, her eyes sparkling in anticipation.

"Hidan may help you with the blood." said Pein.

"Hidan? No, I won't drink blood from another member. I refuse!" she said.

"No, you don't understand. Hidan is a jashinist." Konan replied.

"Oh jashinist, so he's from Yugakure, nice! Anyway, I have a doujutsu similar to the Sharingan, only it's not a Sharingan. My eyes turn red when detecting a person's chakra network, basically finding or tracking a person, then red with black when reading a person's next moves, black with red design when copying a technique and just black is my version of the Mangekyo I suppose, only it's at least ten times worse then Itachi's " explained the vampire shrugging.

"Interesting. Now go meet the other members." replied Pein.

"Hidan will take care of you. He should be here any second now. See you around Dana." replied Konan when Pein left the chamber .

With that Dana left to meet the jashinist. A disaster in the making!

"Took you fucking long enough. What the fuck were you doing? I've been waiting for a hour." said a silver haired man. He didn't look much older than a 24 years old.

"You're Hidan?" asks Dana confused .

"No, I'm the fucking Tooth Fairy , who else would I fucking be ?" says the jashinist sarcastically .

"Why do you swear so much?"she grins. She already loves him!

"None of your damn business. What, you don't swear?" he rises an eyebrow.

"Of course not,I never swore in my life!" says Dana indignantly, though her simile told otherwise.

"Tsk, says the girl who cursed me for messing her hair when we were 10." replies Itachi with no expression on his face.

"Well it took me 5 hours to get it right and it took you 5 seconds to destroy it. Of course I was mad. Don't forget it was for our team photo too." Dana defends herself all the while mentally cursing her ex-team-mate.

"Hey, I didn't know you two fucking knew each other ." Hidan points out , enraged for being left out .

"Oh, but we do, ever since we were little. Then the bastard over here goes on a killing spree and knocks me out, leaving me in the middle of the street." Says Dana remembering the night Itachi left. "Anyway let's meet the rest of the members. Oh and can you spare some blood from your rituals? Not much, just half a liter every two months." Continues the girl having calmed down, if only for a little while.

"Yeah, sure. Okay, the idiot over there is Tobi, the pansy is Deidara, you know Kisame, the red head is Sasori, Deidara's partner. The plant is Zetsu, he has a split personality, and the last one is my partner, he's a money whore named Kakuzu. Then there's Leader and Konan which no one knows all that much about." Hidan explains while Deidara screams a "Hey, un!", Tobi says "Tobi is a good boy", Zetsu argues with himself and Kakuzu asks Dana for money to which she doesn't reply.

Dana's day goes by slowly talking, having spars with the members. In the end she goes to her room and falls asleep, but not before healing herself, she did fight two S-ranked missing-nins after all the cause of her many bruises.

_..._

"I hate this damn weather .I hate it so much !And to make things worse I'm stuck with weasel-teme" thought Dana irritated.

She and Itachi were on their way 'home' from a assassination mission when it started pouring .Yes, they were close to the border so no enemies and yes it would take them only 2 hours to get to a village or town, but fatigue and cold were taking their toll on both shinobi. To make it even worse Dana was wearing so very scarce clothing …

A week earlier

_ Dear diary,_

_You're probably wondering who I am and why I'm writing this . We'll start with the introductions. My name is Dana Yoshiko, 15 and 3 quarters years old...Today is 14th of February._

_I've been in the Akatsuki for a little over a month and so far I haven't discovered anything significant to the village. I mean really, how would Kisame's drinking contests or the fact that Dei snores help Konoha defeat them? With nothing that's what I think..._

_Talking about drinking...me and Hidan normally take part in those contests(though he really can't hold his liquor), this brings me to the point of this entry: WHY WON'T LEADER GIVE ME A GODDANM MISSION? I am bored to death staying cooped up here, not to mention starving to death as well seeing how Deidara's cooking sucks(he puts clay in anything) and Sasori just plain doesn't cook (being a puppet and all)._

_I haven't seen Konan since 2 days ago when I mention her being Leaders girlfriend, she just gave me a glare that rivaled Itachi's and stormed off somewhere muttering about killing someone(I heard my mane so I didn't even think about finding her)._

_Another thing that's bothering me is the weather. Normally I wouldn't mind a bit of rain, but it's pouring everyday here and my joints can't take anymore of it. Ever since I can Remember (which is not that long) I've had a problem with them especially my knees and now, cuz' of the cold I can't even walk without taking painkillers first and even then I afraid I'll brake my leg thus I train inside to keep warm...I'm getting worried because it's not normal for something like this to happen...I'm a VAMPIRE for God's sake!_

_I just glanced out the window and saw Itachi (shudder) come back from his solo mission, why can't I have a mission, doesn't have to be solo...? :(( I'll even agree to go with Weasel-teme if I get out of this building. _

_I know what you must be thinking now: Why do I hate Itachi if he was my teammate, right? Well, I don't hate him per say but I stopped caring the moment he decided it' s ok to kill your family and leave only Sasu (his younger bro) alive, not to mention he knocked me unconscious when I met up with him as he was escaping. I had just arrived in the village after my first B-rank mission and I saw him running toward the gate so I followed, he noticed me immediately and told me to keep going but I couldn't... I told him what I hadn't even admitted to myself: that I loved him, yes I do mean past tense, cuz' I don't anymore...that much...ok, fine, I do,but this info doesn't leave the room! _

"Dana, Pein is looking for you, he told me to tell you to meet him in his office" Deidara yells from down the corridor.

"Coming" the teen replies.

_Gotta go diary, Leader asks to see me, Maybe I'll get that mission after all, huh?_

_Bye ,_

_Dana Y._

Dana closes the journal, placing it on a shelf in the cabinet above the desk and rubbed her knees to ease the stinging. Sitting up she can't help wincing as a jolt of pain travels through her body, she shouldn't have gone outside earlier, and bends to get the cloak.

The maze of hallways make her slightly dizzy and Dana thinks she must have overdone it with the painkillers this morning, green eyes focus on the mahogany wooden door that is Pein's office. She steps inside only to bump into another person, The Uchiha. Stumbling backward she lets out a yelp as her left knee give a loud protest on the extra weight put on it. Itachi catches her when she's about to fall relieving some of the pressure. Once this is over, Dana takes a sit in front of the Leader while Itachi leans casually on the wall on her left.

_Some sort of window to your right__  
><em>_As he goes left and you stay right__  
><em>_Between the lines of fear and blame__  
><em>_And you begin to wonder why you came___

_Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend__  
><em>_Somewhere along in the bitterness__  
><em>_And I would have stayed up with you all night__  
><em>_Had I known how to save a life___

_Let him know that you know best__  
><em>_Cause after all you do know best__  
><em>_Try to slip past his defense__  
><em>_Without granting innocence__  
><em>_Lay down a list of what is wrong__  
><em>_The things you've told him all along__  
><em>_And pray to God, he …_

Dana shakes her head slightly to stop the song that's invading her mind, knowing that she's already lost a lot of what has been said, she'll have to ask Itachi later for the details...

"You understand your mission?" Leader finally asks to which they reply yes.

Though Dana heard the main objectives and that the mission was a assassination/seduction mission, that Itachi was to accompany her through it, though it would be fun to make him seduce the target _'I've got to tell Hidan this idea when I get home!' _ and that Sasori would show her all she needed to know, a crash course on seduction since they have only a week to prepare for it.

After the assassination 

"Itachi , we have to hurry , the storm is getting worse and I'm soaked and cold and I'm fucking pissed and I'm stuck with YOU! So MOVE your freaking ass you dumbo." yelled Dana getting more irritated by the minute, her joints would start acting up soon enough too.

"Hn." was the only reply from her companion.

"Fuck you!" she than screamed.

They continued on the same pace until a cave came into view which was not that far either, only a couple of feet ahead.

"Finally! Thank you ,God!" said the drenched girl.

"Just take those off or you'll catch pneumonia or worse." replied an equally wet Uchiha.

Several hours later found the two Akatsuki members trying to make a fire. Dana's chattering teeth and the occasional sparks were the only things that could be heard through the death-like silence . Dana was wrapped in a towel thus freezing to death .She thought she was turning into an iceberg soon enough and the silence was deafening.

"Y-y-you k-kno-know ,i-it's-s re-rea-lly c-c-cold he-here-r-r-r" she stuttered wrapping the blanket more tightly around herself.

"I know, but until I manage to start this fire, it can't be helped." replied Itachi.

"Y-ye-yeah. I-I know."

A few minutes later the fire had been created...

"Ohh, this feels soooo good. I thought I was turning into an ice cube .Have I ever told you how much I love you…?" rambled Dana unconsciously. "Oh, shit, sorry ,I … it's not…" she trailed of, unable to say what she wanted, truly mortified.

"I know what you mean. It's ok .Really." he responded.

"Right, how come you talk a hell lot more to me than with anybody else, maybe except Kisame, I have no idea what you guys do when you're alone and...that came out wrong...?" she asked, scraching the back of her neck sheepishly, trying to change the subject .

"Because I've known you for longer and am closer to you than any of the others" he trailed off, not sure what else to say, another un-Itachi-like thing.

"Shit, it burns!" yelled Dana when a spark from the fire fell on her hand.

"When did you start to swear so much?"he said, an amused twinkle in his crimson eyes.

"Too much time with Hidan, I guess." shrugged Dana, looking into the fire. "Do you think the rain s-stopped?" she shivered and stretched her knee out rubbing it to ease the pain.

"No, it's gotten worse. Why? Do you not enjoy my company?" teased the weasel, a fake pout on his face, it reminded Dana of the old times with Mina-sensei and Shisui. Thinking of them saddened her, before she registered what the Uchiha said

"NO!" Dana burst out, before correcting herself "I mean no. I like being here with you. I enjoy you presence , plus I … I missed you." said Dana flushing red.

"Why are you blushing? And didn't you say you hated me?" questioned Itachi

"Yes, I do hate you! But to hate a person you have to love 'em first ." she whispered as the blush intensified and she continued staring at the fire. "After you left I became really cold towards others, kinda like you were I suppose." She answered truthfully. "People used to say that, exactly that, to me. 'You're turning into _him'_ or 'You're so distant now, after...' ." She continued."I got very mad at that and I denied it, but the more I was denying it, the more I was becoming exactly what they said I was, closing myself from the rest of the world." tears gathered in her eyes, but she wouldn't let him see her cry. "I … I was afraid I'd do what you did. That I'd hurt people … And look where I am now and whom I'm talking to? Ha, it's rather ironic , don't you think?" she chocked. "What have I done?" he asks himself. One tear rolled down her face followed by another and another til she was crying.

Itachi leaned closer and put his arms around her, letting her cry onto his cloak. The two stayed like this for a couple of minutes until Dana regained her composure , looking up, they stared into each others eyes unconsciously moving closer. Ultimately, their lips touched and they were back home where it was safe and they were loved. Withdrawing, Dana nervously tried to avoid his scrutiny and occupied herself by preparing for bed, however he wasn't fooled. He caught her wrist and made her face him, then leaned down, searching her eyes. What he found the was fear and anxiety and ...love so he kissed her again. Dana was surprised, initially unresponsive, but then she began kissing back. They spent the rest of the night cuddling, as much as an Uchiha can cuddle until they eventually fell asleep in each others arms.

_I'll believe  
>All your lies<br>Just pretend you love me  
>Make believe<br>Close your eyes  
>I'll be anything for you <em>

_**Evanescence "Anything for you"**_

She was running .She has been running for over 3 hours now but couldn't stop because stopping meant death._'Don't find me , please don't let him find me.'_she kept thinking.

_Earlier that day..._

**Dana**... that woman is such an idiot for holding on for so long .Anybody else would've left, screaming and kicking, done something to stop the pain years ago when it first started , anyone but her. She loved him, she'd been in love with him for so long, seeing him in meetings or on the streets of the town, from her window in his garden.

She fantasized on how his lips would touch hears , how his hands would feel on her body and then... then her father decided that she were to marry as fast as possible .She was terrified when she learned about his wish .She has always been free, independent and most of all stubborn, not the perfect wife at all .Wife's were supposed to be obedient and mild and everything she was known not to be.

Her father knew it, the whole damn vampiric society knew it ,so how in seven hells would her _father_ ... **father** , he wasn't even a relative of hers! ,... think he could marry her to someone she didn't even know! Especially after the parade last week that she oh-so-sweetly ruined by "playing" with the circuits .

I mean, who the hell knew that by adding a little water the circuits will turn into fireworks , well apparently everyone but her hehehe,... a panther was more obedient that she is! .But then she found out who the man she was suppose to marry was...he was the same person she has given her heart to, the same man she's fantasized about.

Years of being happy together with Steve, for that is his name, were ruined by the beatings and abuses he delivered. She has had far to many close encounters with the Grim Reaper not to want freedom and she wasn't going to wait any longer for Steve to come to his senses or even to kill her.

Freedom, oh it sounded so sweet right now.

Back in present time

_'Shit , he's close by ...' _she thought. _'So close ..., but were ?_' she searched and searched and..._'There!I can sense something.'_

Suddenly a creature jumped on her .Initially she thought it was one of the rabid vamps that roamed the border, but thankfully it was just rabbit. When it jumped upon her, Dana , in her paranoid state of mind,ran faster into the woods, her dislocated knee, from this morning's beating, aching.

Being in the middle of winter, her already cold persona turned colder, the thick layer of snow almost burying her alive. Finally she managed to get out,but she finds herself surrounded by four unknown vampires. The first, the leader, caught her arms from behind, while the other three tried to immobilize her, one catching her legs, the last two holding her upper body .Dana was once again paralyzed with fear when the malicious presence she felt earlier suddenly reviled itself _.'It was Steve all along and I haven't even noticed. Damn fear for clouding my mind'_ Inwardly she was crying out for help, although she knew nobody would come, but outwardly her facade was perfect, betraying no emotions.

With a gesture of his hand ,Steve dismisses the four deformed vampires and takes hold of her .Even if she wants to keep struggling she can't because in a fraction of a second she is rendered useless .He's kissing her and it's not that which scares her, it's the way he does it, so gentle like he used to when they first got married, but it suddenly changes, like his heart loses control over the body and the poisoned mind is reinstated .

Dana's back collides with the tree bark and she winces in pain, pain from being smashed into a tree and pain from the unhealed whip marks, his mouth is back on hers in a bruising kiss now, just like the others from the past 3 years. Realizing that her legs are somewhat free she kicks him using her pain-filled knee directly in the groin.

He staggers a bit , but then pins her down with his body .His fingers suddenly transform themselves into four inch talons and rips her clothes one by one. Starting from her cheek and making it's way down to her jaw, neck, in-between her breasts, along her flat stomach, her shirt barely covering her now, until he gets to her navel. There he hesitates a second and then...

...Dana wakes up sweating and breathing hard, her sharp claws deeply imbedded in Itachi's arms, that are bleeding profoundly.

Itachi POV

Dana's been turning in her sleep and it's getting bothersome. As I move near her I notice that her nails, long as they were already, now look more like claws. She seams terrified by something in her dream, _no, nightmare_, I correct to myself. Moving even closer, I see that her teeth turned into fangs, _vampire fangs?_, and she's clawing at my arms . She's turning and screaming again, _or was that me?... I don't know anymore _.

Then her mesmerizing emerald orbs open and I can't believe how scared and vulnerable she looks right now .What's happened to the strong independent Dana I knew?

Normal POV

Dana and Itachi stare at each other, with her claws still embedded in Itachi's skin, for five minutes, before she starts apologizing and healing the damage dealt to his arms. Before she can even start looking at his injuries however, he grabs her wrist and demands to know what exactly happened to her in the dream and why she has claws. She explains how she's a vampire and that she had a memory-dream, a scary one and that she'd rather not remember it now, the fact she remembered something is stressful enough, but this memory is worse considering what it is about.

"It is too traumatizing." her voice breaks, tears flowing once again. Dana thinks of herself as failure. Next morning they keep silent on the way home, both deep in thought as hours pass and they don't even realize it .

_ Dear diary,_

_I've just come back from my mission and I'm terrified by my past, cuz' all there is , is this black never-ending abyss and it keeps pulling me in. To make things worse , it seems my actual memory isn't any better after what I saw last night in a dream._

_I was running from this guy, Steve, whom I've been married to for about 5 years , he was ...abusing me I guess, I can't really remember,but I can assure you, diary, that my dream self knew how much of a danger he was. She could feel his mere presence and was frightening as hell. _

_When he caught me, and he did catch me pretty fast, he had other vamps helping(I don't even know if they were vamps...they were about 6 foot tall with their body twisted in weird angles, I shudder just thinking about it, and their hands were literally weapons, one of them had a sword-like arm from what I remember. ), but he dismissed them the second he got there, dunno why though cuz' they could've stopped me from struggling and escaping... _

Drip! And tear falls onto the page staining the writing, blinking Dana only now realizes what happened and what she was writing. Wiping the salty water and making sure the word is still understandable she resumes where she left off, the subject had to be changed though.

_Anyway, onto the good side of yesterday... the assassination was a success, but I kinda ruined the costume when Itachi and me got caught in the rain. It was a beautiful one too, red with black lace around the edges, don't really know how to describe it. The rain wasn't a bad thing either. We got stuck in a cave and talked and talked and I realize it's still him, you know? He hasn't changed that much, sure he's more closed off now, but that can be remedied right, I shouldn't get my hopes up, should I, diary?_

_Well, it's late and I should say goodnight so ...Goodnight!_

_See ya,_

_Dana Y._

"Hey, D. , you still up?" peeking his head through the space between the door, _Why did I leave it open anyway? , _Hidan smiles up at Dana who turned and fell off her chair in surprise.

"Writing" she answers once she gets herself back up, with his help of course. "Why?"

"Cuz' … What the fuck are you writing?" lifts the journal and tries to look through it. Dana doesn't let him and takes it back forcefully.

"It's just a draft, plus I don't like to show people a story before it's done, alright?" she explains, knowing it's not a lie, but not the truth either. Yawning, Dana stretches her muscles and Hidan tells her to go to sleep.

"G'night Hi-chan. " she sticks her tongue out, smiling happily as he growls in annoyance, but responds in a similar way nonetheless. It's a dreamless sleep and for that she has only Hidan to thank because Dana is sure that, had he not been there, she would've woken up terrified once again, his voice calmed her and so she's grateful.


	4. Chapter 3

I don't own Naruto. *sigh*

_**Chapter 3 : Matters of the Heart**_

_I will wander 'til the end of time, torn away from you._

_I pulled away to face the pain.  
>I close my eyes and drift away.<br>Over the fear that I will never find  
>A way to heal my soul.<br>And I will wander 'til the end of time  
>Torn away from you.<em>

_My heart is broken  
>Sweet sleep, my dark angel<br>Deliver us from sorrow's hold  
>(Over my heart). <em>

_ **Evanescence – My Heart Is Broken**_

_~Akatsuki hideout~_

_Dana is 17-18_

It was finally her birthday and everyone was so … so infuriating! .It was like they didn't even know today was the day she finally becomes 18, day she had kept bragging on and on about . She always put so much work in their birthdays and now they did nothing for her!

"Dee! Hey! I wanna ask something." Hidan comes running .When he gets to her, Dana almost thinks she'll get at least one happy birthday, after all he is her best friend,right?

"I heard this strange rumor saying that Itachi likes dango almost obsessively . Is it real?" he asks surprisingly without swearing, more suspicious being the fact he wants to talk about Itachi.

"Yeah he does, but you're not here to ask me this. I know you too well, you only don't swear when your nervous. Now spill !What are you hiding?"

"Ok fine , come with me" Hidan says defeated, dragging the birthday girl along towards the meeting room."Open the door" he sighs, fingering his rosary.

Doing what her friend instructed, vaguely aware he has yet to say one swear word, she steps into to dark chamber. Just before she has the chance to shout at him for it was pitch black in there, he shuts the door behind them, the lights turn on with a chorus of "Happy birthday, Dana!(un)" . Maybe her birthday isn't going to be so bad in the end, she thinks as she jumps over the group of missing-nin she has come to call family.

_Thursday, 6th of June_

_2:17 am_

_ Dear Diary,_

_Today has been great! Although it started like a horrible day - nobody seemed to know it was my b-day – it turned out to be absolutely perfect! _

_Well...when I say today I mean actually yesterday cuz' it's way past midnight right now. The others are still partying in the living room, just me and Itachi are here...He's asleep, I couldn't fall asleep because in 5, or more like 4 days I have to leave the Akatsuki and with my luck he mission is with Itachi. I don't fear getting caught, but how he'll react if I ever see him again. I love him..._

_Any way...I really liked tonight, our(mine and Itachi's) song is "DJ got us falling in love" by Usher... hehehe_

_ Cya! *Smooch*_

_ Dana Y._

_Couple of months later_

Eyes downcast, hair shielding her face, drops of water fall on the ground. It's raining .

She knows she should go home, she knows she should at least shelter herself from the freezing water, but she doesn't. Instead she falls on her knees, hands splashing on the cold wet pavement, forehead protector slipping off and hitting the flat surface of the road with a loud cling! Eyes close tightly, hair drenched. She stays frozen there for a few moments, before sitting backwards onto her own legs, folded beneath herself. Hands clenched in the material of her black dress, she hugs her stomach.

It shouldn't have ended like this, she thinks to herself. She shouldn't feel this ..._empty._

Empty, like the space her heart had been. Empty, like the place her baby should have developed . Empty like her bed, her house … _her life!_ She's alone, the realization hits her so suddenly she almost falls again. She is alone because of choices that shouldn't be made, choices that have to be made, choices that she didn't make.

She's empty, alone, an echo of what she once was. She starts sobbing, hugging herself tighter while rocking back and forth. _Maybe if I'd stayed … _the thought leaves as fast as it comes, she's a Konoha kunoichi, she won't desert her village in its times of need, she tries to argue with herself.

Her head bends back and she stares at the sky, it was already close to nightfall. Gathering all the remains of her determination, her stubbornness already long gone, she gets up and slowly takes a step towards her house, her home no longer being in Konoha, she discovers. Step by aching step she moves, her whole body swaying dangerously and as she does, a memory, from not to long ago, enters her mind . A body of a man crunched down over her own dying one, only it isn't her dying in his arms, that he's rocking back and forth. She barely remembers hearing a few sobs escape his mouth. It wasn't fair to him , she knows that, leaving the day after his birthday, leaving after a passionate night like the one they had, but duty called .He'd understand if he ever saw her again, she hoped he wouldn't, because _she_ would never forgive herself even if he did. _Oh...Itachi, I'm so sorry..._

She snaps out of the memories as a warm hand catches her wrist, Lifting her head to see who stopped her from going in her bed and crying herself to sleep, the 18 year old freezes again, it seemed to happened a lot today.

Trying to speak, the young adult begins to sob once again.

"Midori..." she manages to say, before falling into the awaiting arms of the slightly older woman. A new set of memories rush back to her, the sharp blade of a sound-nin piercing though a jounin jacket, a loud scream, brown eyes wide and pained, pink hair bloodied. Her friend's death replaying over and over .

"Dana, what happened?" the same brown eyes now held worry, pink hair wet, but clean .

"You...you died" she chokes.

"No, it was a clone, I was several miles behind, I saw it happen,but then I went back to my fight. When I looked back you were gone and the oto-nin seemed to have been massacred." Midori's expression scrunched in disgust.

"I, I did that..." a loud gasp escaped the other woman standing on the porch "... I thought you died and lost control a bit, I did that, but he was strong and he..I lost the... Oh god!" Dana collapses to her knees crying. The realization of what might have happened causes Midori to copy her friend.

"You lost the baby" she says with a strangled voice, hugging the quivering brunette.

_Flashback from a month ago _

_A pink haired woman waits patiently on the couch, her friend in the kitchen preparing coffee. It was 7 am and both were in need of energy._

_Taking the cup offered to her, Midori begins to ask her friend about her 3 year long mission._

"_Where were you and why couldn't you at least send a letter?" she interrogates._

"_Busy" a vague response will not do, but before she gets to argue her brunette friend darts out of the room towards the bathroom. Midori, concerned, follows and finds Dana crunched over the toilet . Kneeling, the pinkette take hold of the others hair and holds it up. When Dana relaxes on the floor, Midori can't help but remember that three days ago the same thing happened ._

"_Dana answer honestly , how long have you been trowing up in the mornings?" she asks._

"_Ever since I came back" the younger girl sighs."Do you know what it may be. I didn't go to the hospital cuz I thought it was just a food-bug" she continued when Midori frowned at her._

"_Don't freak out, but um...I think you're...pregnant" she whispered the last word. _

_Dana chocked on her own spit."What?" panicked she yelled ._

_A few hours and five pregnancy test later Dana was crying in Midori's arms, the result was positive, she was pregnant. Gathering her courage the brunette began to explain everything, from the cave incident when she kissed Itachi to the last night with the Akatsuki and him. The two decided to go to the hospital later that night, when no one was there and see how far along is Dana,what with being a vampire and all that._

_What they found was somewhat frightening, Dana was 2 months along, so she would give birth in half the time, but then came the Oto-Suna invasion..._

_End flashback_

"I think you should ask for a vacation of at least a year, God knows you deserve it" the Haruno says later that night, the two women decided to spend the night at Dana's house.

"I'll ask once a new Hokage is elected... who do you think they'll choose?" Dana concedes .

"I heard the old geezers talking about Lady Tsunade." she yawns and snuggles more into Dana.

"Ah, ok then. G'night Midori!" she closes her swollen eyes, no doubt red and puffy tomorrow.

"G'night Dee!" the pinkette says, unknowingly resembling a certain loud mouth Jashinist, causing Dana to let a small smile.

_Here in the shadows  
>I'm safe<br>I'm free  
>I've nowhere else to go but<br>I cannot stay where I don't belong_

_Two months pass by and it's getting cold  
>I know I'm not lost<br>I am just alone  
>But I won't cry<br>I won't give up  
>I can't go back now<br>Waking up is knowing who you really are_

_**Evanescence - Exodus**_

The wind blew through the trees as Dana ran at top speed. Salty tears fell from her eyes and the bag she was carrying almost slipped from her shoulder when the 18 year old tried to wipe the tears away. Dana's unoccupied hand clenched over her belly as more sobs raked through her body.

It was early morning when she left Konoha, but now it was already dark. Coming to a halt, the teen drops her bag and, having stopped crying, begins preparing for a night under the stars. She forgot to get a tent when leaving, because she hurried out of the village. As her friend suggested, she decided to take a break from her shinobi duties.

That night Dana didn't much sleep and barely stayed an hour the next morning. In 2 days she was at the border between Fire County and Grass.

Arriving in a small, civilian village, the 18 year old decides to spend the day there, no matter what she may want, her body needs to rest.

"Hello! Can I help you ?" the inn-keeper softly asks. He is an elderly man, short, with gray hair. "He might be in his early 80s" the girl thinks.

"I'd like a single-room, if you have any to spare." she replies, but is unable to force a smile onto her face.

Receiving a key and directions toward her room, Dana forms a plan for the day.

"I should see the village..." she thinks to herself as she trows her bag on the floor, but the fatigue catches up with her. She falls asleep the moment her head finds the pillow.

_Flashback from 2 weeks ago _

_"Dana, what happened?" the same brown eyes now held worry, pink hair wet, but clean ._

_"You...you died" she chokes._

_"No, it was a clone, I was several miles behind, I saw it happen,but then I went back to my fight. When I looked back you were gone and the oto-nin seemed to have been massacred." Midori's expression scrunched in disgust._

_"I, I did that..." a loud gasp escaped the other woman standing on the porch "... I thought you died and lost control a bit, I did that, but he was strong and he..I lost the... Oh god!" Dana collapses to her knees crying. The realization of what might have happened causes Midori to copy her friend._

_"You lost the baby" she says with a strangled voice, hugging the quivering brunette._

_"I think you should ask for a vacation of at least a year, God knows you deserve it" _

The next morning 

"_Dany... bestie ...wake up" a disrupted voice called her, but her eyes wouldn't open. They were swollen and aching from all the crying she did the other day. Sitting up abruptly, the memories of the past months play in __front of the mind's eye. Her vision blurs and Dana knows she's going to cry and, as predicted, she does as Midori wounds her arms around her. Dana feels the tears fall and soaking her best friend's shirt._

"_You'll be fine...Everything's going to be fine..." Midori tries to comfort her,but can't since her own voice flatters ._

_End Flashback_

Tears are streaming down her face as her curled body shakes as silent whimpers turn to sobs. She is wailing when, finally, she wakes up.

Breathing hard, but not yet panting, and rivers of salty water are still pouring on her young face, Dana sits on her bed, the rosy light of dusk falls on her heartbroken expression. She looks like a grieving angel, a faint glow emanates around her body.

Dana stays there for a few seconds, not moving, before shivering and furiously wiping the tears away. Taking a shower half an hour later, she feels her eyes water, but composes herself before it happens and her resolve breaks. She promises not to cry anymore.

…

Dressed to go out, the young Yoshiko girl exits the inn. A night of talking with the locals, a party full of dance and music is all it takes for her to decide to stay. The next day she's already buying a house and making plans to start decorating it.

It's been exactly a month since coming to Sokyaku village. The border village proved to be right for her healing heart, if her new friend was proof of anything .

His name is Daisuke Hisoka, he's no ninja, although his family is a well known clan in Grass Country .

Dana was surprised at how fast she befriended him, but she didn't tell him why she'd come here, though he asked in the 3 weeks they've known each other. He is her neighbor. When she had bought the house in Sokyaku, he was watching from the window. He later helped her arrange everything, that's how their friendship began.

His sense of humor and kind brown eyes captivated her immediately, but as days rolled by she noticed that it was also very easy to open up to Daisuke.

Three more months pass before Dana is ready to tell him what led her to this village.

She began by telling her coming to Konoha, then meeting Itachi. Her eyes started watering. She even explained about the Akatsuki. She described the guys ...and girl, her relation to each of them, her love for Itachi, her disfunctional friendship with Hidan and Sasori and how Konan was like a sister to her. She then began explaining Itachi's 18th birthday and the day after it, the day she left. She tells about having been pregnant when the Konoha invasion happened. She was sobbing when she described the attack on Midori and her outburst of fury that led to her miscarriage.

Daisuke wound his arms around her, holding tightly as she finally lets her feelings show. He stays the night, keeping her in his embrace till both fall asleep. It was then that Dana started to fall for him.

However, it wasn't until 2 months later that they started dating. He came, knocking on her door one late morning, asking if she wanted to go to a festival in his home town. Dana agreed.

Since the village was only 2 hours away, they arrived there sometime during noon. Daisuke introduced her to his parents, then Dana went shopping for a kimono to wear at the festival that night.

They kissed accidentally when leaning forward to watch a dance competition, bursting into laughter the moment they realized what happened. The spark between them was clear, yet Dana still had her doubts about entering another relationship. She put them aside and the next 2 years , give or take a few months, their love blossomed.

When their anniversary came that year, Daisuke took her to the festival again, entered them both in the dance contest, since he knew she loved dancing, and at the end of it her led her to a secluded place and proposed. Shocked, Dana asked for a short time to think.

Although sad, Daisuke waited for her. She'd reached her decision when he was away on a business trip, she sent a letter saying she had something to tell him. He was to come home in a week.

The day came and Dana began planning a romantic evening for them. She arranged the house, all petals of roses and candle light, then took care of herself. She had everything planned, but one hour before he came, a messenger bird flew through the window. She'd been recalled to duty . The Akatsuki had captured the Kazekage, but, thankfully, he'd been saved. Also, Haruno Sakura, the Godaime's apprentice managed to successfully eliminate Akasuna no Sasori.

Dana didn't read anymore for her eyes had already stopped functioning properly . She didn't cry however, but something snapped inside her . When the ANBU team came to escort her back to Konoha an hour later, they found a stoic, unreadable Dana Yoshiko.

Daisuke came home only to see Dana being taken away be an ANBU escort. He yelled for her, asking what's going on, but she didn't even look back. Inside the house he found a note and a letter. The note was addressed to him, the letter was Dana's.

"_I'm sorry, but I won't be marrying you. I was going to say yes with all my heart, but the letter changed everything. Sasori is dead, he died 2 days ago. I was recalled to duty, because of the Akatsuki's recent activity. _

_I love you' _

_Dana Y. _

_P.S. Don't look for me . I'm not coming back with you, my heart can't take anymore. I'm turning it off."_

He crumbled the note, his eyes shining with tears. She turned her heart off, she'd said. But could he do the same?

Arriving in Konoha, Dana headed directly to the Hokage Tower. Although she only wore a gown, since she hadn't had time to change, she didn't feel the cold, early spring night. The team captain escorting her, left as she entered the Hokage office.

Her file needed updating, she thought as Tsunade spoke of the Kazekage mission. Dana tried to keep her mind distracted, being told twice that her best friend was killed is too much for anybody. She might break. Thankfully, the Godaime didn't mention Sasori's death, she did, however mention Deidara escaping. Dana's eyes twinkled with humor, Tsunade let it slip . Her heart started blackening as days rolled by.

She'd been away on a mission when Asuma died, receiving a message to come back to Konoha quickly because Hidan and Kakuzu were the ones who did it. She didn't, thinking that the two were immortal and the Leaf shinobi smarter than to attack blindly, this cost her 2 other friends, Hidan's "death" was the hardest she'd faced before. However Dana didn't cry, nor did she have any reaction.

After this event, Dana began working in the I&T(Information and Torture) Division. It had been easy working there since her heart was already black, what she didn't know is that Hidan's "death" began the healing process. The biggest shock came on November afternoon . It was the 2nd of the month and Dana was called to the Hokage office. She went there thinking that it was just another standard mission, the news she received sent a burst of energy through her already healing heart . She was handed a document:

"_Itachi Uchiha has been caught 2 days ago. _

_He's been in the hospital's restricted area since he was found. His lungs had very much scar tissue and the operation for healing it was hard, thus Tsunade herself and her apprentice had been called to perform it. He is currently at the I&T Unit. _

_Haruno Sakura will perform most of the interrogation, trying to find the cause of his illness. You, Dana Yoshiko, captain of the health division in ANBU, second in command to the Interrogation Unit under Ibiki Morino, are to observe and , if necessary, intervene in the questioning of S-ranked missing-nin Uchiha Itachi._

_Godaime Hokage,_

_Tsunade Senju."_

Dana nods, hair hiding her face, before exiting the area. She transports herself home. Opening the door to her apartment she drops her weapon pouch and takes off her shoes. She goes inside the bedroom, opens a cabinet and from it takes out a photo. She trows it on the bed and, after taking a new set of clothes enters the bathroom. Staring in the mirror just prior to stepping inside the shower, one single tear falls...

On her bed, the photo of team 4 from when they were only children shines under the moonlight.

_How many times have I done this to myself  
>How long will it take before I see<br>When will this hole in my heart be mended  
>Who now is left alone but me<em>

_Ooh, Solitude,  
>Forever me and forever you<br>Ooh, Solitude,  
>Only you, only true <em>

_ **Evanescence - Solitude**_


End file.
